BY JONATHAN REES
I’m a member of the AAUP Committee on Teaching, Research, and Publication. Last week, committee chair Hank Reichman and I convened a listening session at the AAUP biennial meeting to start the long process of revising the organization’s statement regarding online education. The existing Statement on Online and Distance Education dates from the late-1990s. While it was certainly good for its time, things have changed so much since then that it’s obvious that a new statement will have to address current issues in online education in some detail. At the same time, any statement that gets too detailed runs the risk of becoming outdated itself after a few short years.
To open the discussion, I offered three general categories for the members’ consideration: Academic Freedom and Shared Governance Online, Learning Platforms and the Virtual Classroom, and Online Teaching Materials (which might include issues like copyright and open educational resources). A new statement might include sections covering all three of these subjects, or perhaps each one might merit a statement of its own.
Having collected good suggestions from the attendees (like addressing whether a faculty member has the right to pick their own course modality), we wanted to use this blog post to open up the discussion to interested faculty everywhere. Based on your experience teaching online, what issues should a new statement (or statements) regarding online education address? Leave your input in the comments below, and we’ll report back in future blog posts as the document takes shape.
Jonathan Rees is professor of history at Colorado State University–Pueblo.
In my report for the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement (https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/fellows-19-20/wilson-research/), I argued: “College social media policies should defend free expression and prohibit censorship by stating that social media is evaluated the same as all other forms of expression, rejecting the need for disclaimers on personal social media, and protecting the rights of all students, faculty, and staff to use social media.” So I hope a revised statement will address the danger of extramural utterances being subjected to special restrictions if they appear on social media (as the Kansas Board of Regents currently requires).
John, this is addressed in our updated statement on Academic Freedom and Electronic Communication: https://www.aaup.org/report/academic-freedom-and-electronic-communications-2014
Yes, please; updated statements regarding online aspects of the profession are long overdue. We may need to have a committee that examines them yearly, as technology expands apace. Note, for example, how the MLA is obliged to release editions more frequently to keep up with citations across diverse platforms. Also, what of verification? Is the student in that Brady Bunch box really the one listed on my roster, or is it a cousin or a pal? I ran into an old work colleague who let it slip that he routinely takes online courses for friends of his, ahem.
One important topic is the interaction of technology and specific faculty responsibilities around what we might call performance settings. This includes aesthetic performances (music, dance, etc.) and also professional performances (education, nursing). What ties them together is that they all involve observation and coaching in unique settings and the importance of seeing what students do in transient conditions. In my former admin role, I supported a few undergrad & grad programs where one of the more challenging elements was around observing and coaching with integrity, and working with site mentors (in education programs).
The LMS issues are intensified when you layer on decisions about video observation/assessment. In general, one should say that technology choices tied to platforms (both base LMSs and others) need to be in the hands of faculty, But that’s especially true when the circumstances of observation and assessment are based on some type of performance.
How about including mention of accessibility and instructional support for making teaching materials accessible both in terms of faculty workload (captions, transcripts, alt text etc) and in terms of access to computers, software, wifi for both faculty and students?
Pingback: Report from National AAUP Convention – The Council of UC Faculty Associations